Edwin O’Connor, Irish Catholic Novelist

Today marks the death of author Edwin O’Connor (1918-1968), who chronicled the twentieth century Irish-American urban experience in his novels. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he studied at Notre Dame. Intending to pursue a graduate degree in English, he found work as a radio announcer. During the Second World War, he served in the Coast Guard, where he worked in public relations. But his real vocation was writing, and the subject that interested him most was Irish-American urban politics, particularly as played out in New England. O’Connor once said that he would “like to do for the Irish in America what Faulkner did for the South.” Most critics agree that he achieved this goal with his 1958 novel The Last Hurrah, the story of an old time Irish-American boss approaching his political sunset. This is O’Connor’s most famous novel, but his favorite was a subsequent work for which he won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize. The Edge of Sadness tells the story of an alcoholic Boston priest whose search for grace leads to his spiritual (and physical) rehabilitation. Loyola Press has just reissued the book in its Loyola Classics Series, a book that remains highly readable and still relevant.